- With every meal try to fill half your plate with vegetables. This way you can still eat the things you normally do for dinner but you will be cutting down your portions and filling up on vegetables.

- Keep a diary and write a list of everything you eat in a day. This will help put in perspective how much you eat in day. Trust me you may think that you don't eat that much but when you see it listed on one page it may come as a big shock.

- Carry a bottle of water with you everywhere you go. I find myself sipping on water when I'm bored, which is a good thing because it keeps me full through out the day and I'm less likely to buy a soft drink when I'm out.

- Go for a walk after dinner. When I plan to go for a walk an hour after dinner, I eat less because I'm scared to get a stitch and I know if I overeat the walk will be uncomfortable and less energetic.

- Don't weigh yourself constantly. If you weigh yourself everyday you are not going to have large results this can make you feel less motivated. Try to set a day every week to weigh in for example fridays, this way you are more likely to have a big result which will keep you motivated.

- Since it's the beginning of a new year take a before shot of your body and put it up on your wall or on your computers desktop and try to imagine your skinny after shot any time you feel like you're lacking motivation.

- Any form of exercise is better than none at all. We all make excuses that we have work or school etc but finding 30 minutes a day to exercise instead of watching tv isn't that difficult to do.

- Little changes can make a world of difference for example my mum lost 5 kilos in one month by replacing her usual 2 pieces of toast with jam and butter with oatmeal instead. Oatmeal is low in calories and it keeps you fuller for longer.